Saturday, April 25, 2009

Tonight we had a strange experience. We were on our way to go out to dinner when we came to a hault on a very busy street because of a woman in the road. She was quite old, bent over almost in half, and shuffling across the street at a VERY slow pace. Oh, and did I mention she was literally in the middle of traffic? Not at a crosswalk and most definitely not watching for cars. Both sides of traffic were (thankfully) stopped to let her through.

We were pretty concerned, so I hopped out of the car (hey, traffic was stopped anyway, right?) and helped her up to the sidewalk. She was walking towards the mall (completely bent in half, so she was staring at the ground.) but when I asked her if she was going to the mall, she kept saying no. Then she would point towards the mall and say, I am going to that building right there. And then she broke into a few, "Holy spirit of light, be my guide..." rants, and I knew that this woman was pretty confused.

I motioned to Mike to call the police. If you know me, that is pretty much my answer for anything unusual: call 911. So, as Mike called, I walked her over to the TGI Friday's and sat her on a bench. A waitress brought out some water for the woman, and I continued to probe her for information about herself as we waited for the police to arrive.

I asked her who she was. Vivianna. I asked her if she had children. Jennifer, Jay, and Jonathan. I asked her what her husband's name was. Larry. Where is Larry? In the building.You mean the mall? No. That building right there. (Motions towards the mall.)Then she broke out into a LONG string of religious jargon. I felt so bad for this woman, so confused, sitting on a bench with a total stranger, drinking whatever this stranger gave her, having NO clue where she was.

The police arrived and they knew her. Apparently she must wander a lot. They immediately asked her where Larry was, and at that moment, as if it were magic, Larry appeared. He was yelling at her for not staying in the car when he was in getting their 'Wendys sandwiches!!!' The Wendys was across the street from the mall (the busy street she had crossed.) She must have thought she was crossing the parking lot to go to the Wendys. After a moment it became clear that Larry is pretty confused himself.

It was so sad seeing this unfold in front of me. It makes me ill to think that someday I might be as confused as Vivianna. Or worse, that one of my parents will. I know that my grandpa took care of his very confused wife for a long time, and I can't imagine how hard that must have been! I feel so sorry for these people and especially their caretakers. How frustrating it must be to not be able to communicate with someone who was once a completely capable person. UGHHHHHHHH.

Okay, sorry for the downer post but I had to unload this. It was such a wierd, unexpected experience.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Tonight I had a little sadness in my heart at bedtime while we were all gathered together on the bed, both girls jumping all over as Mike and I were trying to relax. The girls were pretending to feed us dinner, and Rachel proudly served up some 'pas-ghetti'. Mike informed her that what she was actually giving him was 'spaghetti', to which she very slowly said, "Noooo Dad.... PA-sghetti." He again told her that it is pronounced 'spaghetti.' I was bemused until she turned to me with a somewhat pained expression and asked, "Mom? It's pasghetti, right?" Her sweet innocent concern over the fact that she was SO sure that it was, indeed, pasghetti really broke my heart. It was like revealing the secrets of the tooth fairy or something. She took it pretty well, though. Bless that child.

So, on the topic of innocence, I have been feeling lately like I need to privatize my blog again. I really hated having a private blog, because it was so inconvenient for people to check, especially family members who seemed to have trouble logging onto it. But, I have so much concern over the safety of my children....I don't know that it's right for me to plaster their pictures and stories where any freak in the world could see them.

I have thought of starting another blog, more about me, not really talking about my kids, you know, for bachelor season and such. :) But then I am worried I would feel pressure to be witty or something, and I don't want that.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

So, my sister sent this to me, and I had to post it. Seriously, I noticed this last year, but had no way to confirm my suspicions. Thank you BJ Novak for being a cream egg freak! What's Cadbury going to say to THIS? ;)